


Devices And Desires

by ProfessorFlimflam



Category: Holby City
Genre: Berena Final Countdown, Elinor Lives, F/F, Sex Toys, Smut, but it makes things easier, countdown: vices, not that it matters, vices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:54:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22245175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorFlimflam/pseuds/ProfessorFlimflam
Summary: When Bernie comes back from Kiev, Serena is only too wiling to learn new skills and tastes. But Bernie has a surprise in store for her (in storage, in fact) - a collection that puts Serena’s to shame...
Relationships: Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71
Collections: The Final Countdown





	Devices And Desires

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ktlsyrtis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktlsyrtis/gifts).



> Who else could I gift a sex toy fic to? Thanks to the smuttiest bitch in town for organising this brilliant send off to our girls x

“Oh my goodness.” Serena was slack jawed and wide eyed. “I thought _I_ had quite the collection, but this...”

She let her hand trail over the edge of the open box - but not its contents, (not yet), and gazed in wonder at the collection of objects. She was overwhelmed by the riotous display of colours, shapes and sizes, and it was fair to say that Bernie had well and truly surprised her.

They had been together for several months now, having consummated their new relationship the night Bernie came back from Kiev. After a day of awkwardness and misunderstandings ( _thank you, Jason_ ), they had found themselves locked into their own office (Jason again) until they came to their senses, and when they finally did, the sparks fairly flew. Bernie had pulled the blinds shut as she responded enthusiastically to Serena’s kiss, but before long, they had been interrupted by security coming to unlock the room, and the remainder of their shift had passed in a smouldering haze, until Henrik had delicately suggested that they might like to leave early, just this once.

They had wasted no time in heading back to Serena’s leafy detached, where they had become reacquainted with each other in the most delicious of ways. Serena, on her first trip to Stepney, had shown considerable imagination and adaptability, and the hunger each had for the other was barely sated before the next wave of desperation overtook them, so very delightfully, again and again. Over the next few weeks and months, the urgency abated but the hunger did not, and they found Christmas a testing time, with a house full of their children to consider. Several times, Serena had been obliged to call out “Clothes!” as Bernie wandered out to the bathroom in the mornings, and Charlotte had given herself a sore throat coughing pointedly when they had forgotten themselves in the kitchen. But they had survived on kisses and excitingly silent assignations, and once the holiday was over, and Elinor safely back at university with a completed film project, they were like teenagers once more.

Serena had always enjoyed sex unequivocally, as long as her partner was reasonably proficient, and in this, as in every other discipline she could think of bar communication, Bernie excelled. She was a more attentive lover than Serena had ever known before, and as for stamina, well, she was discovering that there was a great deal to said for sex with a woman. Bernie’s own needs were not difficult to meet, and Serena was enthusiastic in doing so. She was therefore surprised and a little chagrined when Bernie tentatively suggested that they might like to think about spicing things up a little, but Bernie assuaged her fears immediately.

“Oh - Serena, no - no. I love what we do. I’d be happy doing this forever,” she smiled in post-coital bliss. “But - you know, there are other... options.” She rolled over of a sudden, pinning Serena to the bed, a wicked grin on her face. “There are so many other fun things to try, you know?”

Serena, who had thought herself utterly exhausted, felt a new surge of a very particular kind of energy course through her at this treatment, and trying (and failing) to sound casual, she panted, “Such as?”

“Well. When you’ve been without company for a while, how have you managed? Toys aren’t just for solo use, you know.”

Serena stared at her, taken aback. For whatever reason, it just hadn’t occurred to her that Bernie might use a vibrator, and the thought of it sent her thoughts spinning in one very distinct direction.

“You - uh... you mean.. well, yes, I have done on occasion. I mean, I - ”

Bernie laughed, but not unkindly. “Don’t look so shocked - it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Honestly. I mean, look at me - away from home for months - best part of a year, sometimes. I’d have gone crazy without some sort of relief, and sometime you need a bit of help to get there. Have you never used anything with a partner before to add a bit of _je ne sais quoi_ , though?”

Recovering her equilibrium a little, Serena laughed shortly and said, “Have you ever tried suggesting to a man that things are lovely, but would be so much nicer with a couple of AA batteries? I don’t think so!” And Bernie laughed with her, relaxing her grip on Serena’s wrists. She flopped back onto the mattress.

“Well, never mind - it was just a thought.” But Serena had had enough time to cool her blushes, and she leaned up on one elbow to look her partner in the eye.

“Oh, I’m not saying no by any means - you just took me by surprise. So, what are you suggesting, exactly?”

After a brief but illuminating conversation, Serena had pulled open her bedside drawer and lined up what she referred to as her private collection, and suffice to say that much enjoyment was had of it. While they did not feel the need to supplement activities with silicon on every occasion, toys soon became an important part of their sex life. Serena warmed so much to the idea, in fact, that a few weeks later, she suggested coyly to Bernie that they might like to go shopping together, to choose something new to share. Bernie beamed broadly at her.

“Sterling plan, Campbell! Only, tell you what, I’d better get my bits and pieces out of storage first, make sure we’re not getting any duplicates.”

***

“That really is quite the collection. I don’t know what to say!” Serena said in amazement. “Good lord, where do we start?!” Tentatively at first, but growing bolder, she started turning over the contents of the box, picking something out form time to time and holding it up, turning it round, guessing at its potential uses, and thrilling at the idea that Bernie had used these herself on those long lonely nights. She wondered how recently they had been on active service, and whether she herself had featured in the company in narrative Bernie might have spun on the journey.

“And Marcus never knew that you had this little lot?” she queried. Bernie shook her head.

“Not a Scooby. He’d have been horribly offended, I think. I stashed them away so he wouldn’t find them, but they came in handy, I can tell you!”

“Ah - hence the label, I suppose,” Serena said with a knowing glance at the label on the box, which read in black marker pen, “BW: souvenirs.”

Bernie tilted her head to read it, and shrugged. “It probably helped, but no - they mostly are souvenirs.”

“You brought back vibrators as souvenirs from your travels? What’s wrong with fridge magnets?”

“Hmm... they don’t give me quite the same buzz, as it were.” Bernie nudged her in the ribs and grinned. “I bought the first one in Osnabrück when I was stationed there in the early nineties - it was much easier to find that sort of thing out there than it was at home at that time. It was a bit of a revelation, I can tell you! But it was a bit noisier than I was really comfortable with in barracks, so when I moved on, I replaced it with something a bit more subtle. Getting one from everywhere started as a bit of a joke, and I picked up some pretty outlandish things - as you can see - but, I don’t know,” she shrugged, “It’s a sort of nostalgic thing for me. I can look at these and remember where I was, how I was feeling about things. I knew I was gay a long time ago, and this let me explore things without being unfaithful to Marcus.”

Serena had enough sense to let that one go, but she Was intrigued by the idea of Bernie using this unconventional hobby to work things out for herself.

“Where was this one from?” She asked, picking out a carved wooden phallus, silky smooth and of a medium size.

“Believe it or not, that’s from Afghanistan. There was a famous piece that was sent out of the country for safekeeping, along with lots of other artefacts, and they were returned about ten or fifteen years ago. God knows if they’re still in tact. But one of them them was a glass phallus that Alexander the Great is supposed to have touched - maybe even used, who knows? - and this is a reproduction of that.”

“Well well,” Serena said, “Everyday’s a school day, isn’t it? How about this handy contraption?”

She touched something with sturdy straps and an aperture that was clearly designed to hold the business end of things very securely.

“Berlin - massive leather scene. I got these there as well,” Bernie said, feigning a casual tone as she hooked out a pair of handcuffs, but her anxious glance at Serena showed that this was something she was still quite interested in. Serena smiled, and taking them from her, put them to one side.

“Let’s put these on the _to do_ pile, hmm? We’ll put the harness there, too.” She turned back to the box. “Good lord, what the hell is this? A cookie cutter?”

Bernie laughed as much in relief as at the comment, and brandished the item in question: a bright yellow dildo with an approximation of anatomical correctness (though Serena noted with relief that none of the pieces in Bernie’s collection had what the catalogues called “realistic veins”), and an oddly shaped base.

“Is this the famous flared base that I’ve heard so much about?” Serena asked with a glint in her eye that Bernie couldn’t quite read, but she shook her head. 

“Well, I suppose it could be used that way, but no - have a closer look,” she said with a laugh.

While the dildo itself was a slightly garish yellow, the base was green, and when Serena upended it, she saw that it was in the shape of the map of Australia. 

“Just a holiday, that one, not a tour of duty. I see what you mean though. That bit’s actually a suction cup - you can stick it to a smooth surface and, uhh... you know.”

Serena did know, but it was fun seeing Bernie embarrassed. “And what?” she asked, one eyebrow twitching.

Knowing she was being played, Bernie gave the little bashful smile that always melted Serena’s heart.

“I’m not sure I know how to put it into words,” she said. “How about I show you?”

This time Serena really was lost for words, but fortunately, actions spoke louder than words, and the look on her face spoke to Bernie loud and clear. 

It was going to be a long night.


End file.
